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Pioneer >
Pioneer VSX-1021-K 7.1-Channel A/V Receiver
 
Not such a great deal
- Pros: HDMI connectors for most devices. Remote can be programmed for most devices. Low price (under $300.00).
- Cons: HDMI connectors faulty.
- Other Thoughts: I have been a "dyed in the wool" Pioneer owner since the early 1980s. All of my home receivers have been Pioneer, as well as my latest car audio unit. In the past, I had very little problems with these products. When I purchased this AV receiver, I was expecting more of the same quality and durability as in the past. I connected everything and tested everything. Very satisfied. I seldom used this receiver and the home theater setup that it is connected with. It sat idle for about 8 months when I decided to watch something on the TV. No matter what I tried to do, I could not get a picture. At first I blamed the TV, then the Blu-Ray player, then the cable STB. All of these were ruled out, so I contacted Pioneer about warranty service (being under a year old). I took the unit to a local authorized repair shop. They kept it for over a month and a half. After they repaired it, I took it home and reconnected everything except for the cable STB (I had no real desire to watch anything at that time). So, for about 4 months it sat idle again. I recently had a desire to watch cable, so I hooked up the STB. All I could get were intermittent signal connections. At first I thought that it was the cable box, but after I swapped it with a new one, the same problem was there. The original warranty for the receiver is expired as well as the 90 day warranty from the repair. I am currently in communication with Pioneer to see what can be done to fix this problem.
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Reviewed By:bimfi,5/24/2013 1:37:25 PM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is average and has owned this product more than 1 year.
This user purchased this item from Newegg
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Receivers >
Sony >
SONY STR-DH520 7.1-Channel, 3D pass-through 6 HD inputs 4 HDMI HD Cinema Sound A/V Receiver
Sony needs to provide better documentation
- Pros: Item arrived without any defects. Looks brand new. I don't know what they had to refurbish.
- Cons: Documentation is poorly written. This item has lots of options and the user manual is slightly better than useless. There are many options that are mentioned in the operating instructions, but it does not say how to access them. Sony does not have any manual for the remote on their website. I am going to have to spend a lot of time learning how to set the options and then more time testing them to find what ones are best for me.
- Other Thoughts: I bought a set of Polk speakers that Newegg had on sale. I also bought an RCA to RCA cable for the subwoofer. The sound is really good. I just have to figure out how to balance the speakers and what settings are best for my room.
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Reviewed By:mortgun,5/24/2013 5:20:16 AM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is Somewhat High and has owned this product 1 week to 1 month.
This user purchased this item from Newegg
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Categories >
Receivers >
Yamaha >
YAMAHA RX-V373BL 5.1-Channel AV Receiver
After A Year
- Pros: Expense to feature ratio is pretty good
- Cons: I've seen this issue on at least one other review here, so it must be a common issue with this receiver. The receiver stops recognizing HDMI Input and requires reset back to factory defaults, reboot and then you're back in business.
RX-V373 Reset receiver to factory settings can be found at Yamaha's website here: http://faq.yamaha.com/us/en/article/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx/rx-v373_black_u/10254/7051/
- Other Thoughts: I won't purchase another Yamaha product due to this frustration. Plus, this occurred for the first time one month after my year warranty expired. First Sony, now this...who should I try next?
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Reviewed By:hifi,5/22/2013 7:35:53 AM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is High and has owned this product more than 1 year.
This user purchased this item from Newegg
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Categories >
Receivers >
Pioneer >
Pioneer VSX-822-K 5.1-Channel 3D Ready A/V Receiver
Works Great
- Pros: The picture looks great on the TV.
All of the plugins have been working great. The Airplay is awesome, the internet radio works very well, and the automatic speaker setup with the microphone is awesome.
I have the sound outputting to two mid-to-low end floor standing Pioneer speakers and the sound is amazing. - Cons: None so far. Had to run the setup a couple times but that was user error because I didn't realize how loud it would be.
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Reviewed By:N/A,5/21/2013 10:15:59 AM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is average and has owned this product 1 day to 1 week.
This user purchased this item from Newegg
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Categories >
Receivers >
Acesonic >
Acesonic AM-600 Professional 600W Dual Channel Power Amplifier
DOA
- Pros: Non
- Cons: I received equipment that did not work as soon as I took it out of the box. I called the company and they asked me to send it back and they would refund me. They also ask to pack it well and make insurance to ship it back. In this case, they should issue a UPS label because the equipment does not work at all. They promised me that they would take care of the shipping charges but they never did. Overall very disappointed and waited for my money for three weeks. I had to make more than one phone call in attempts to get my money back in addition to sending a few emails with no response. Avoid this product at all costs !
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Reviewed By:Mr.G,5/20/2013 9:51:56 PM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is High and has owned this product less than 1 day.
This user purchased this item from Newegg
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Categories >
Receivers >
Onkyo >
ONKYO TX-NR616 7.2-Channel THX Certified Network A/V Receiver
Like a half price Mercedes
- Pros: Has the feature of much more expensive AVR's
Everything works flawlessly
Wireless works perfect even in a closed cabinet 30 feet and three walls away.
Love the iphone app and with CEC I never need the Onkyo remote.
Three zones is unheard of at the street price
THX Certified
second HDMI out is fantastic
8 HDMI's is unprecedented...even the 626 has fewer
$20 wifi dongle - Cons: Audyssey 2EQ...MultiEQ obviously is better
- Other Thoughts: This AVR is the best deal I've gotten on anything in a long time. I was waiting for the sky to fall with the reviews but it's been flawless. My Energy Take 5.1 system sounds very nice. Initial firmware update performed before connecting anything. Firmware update takes 2 minutes.
The sheer value of this AVR has me scratching my head. A side by side comparison of receivers substantially higher priced and this gives nothing away.
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Reviewed By:N/A,5/20/2013 8:17:59 PM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is Somewhat High and has owned this product 1 week to 1 month.
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Categories >
Receivers >
Pioneer >
Pioneer SC-1222-K 7.2-Channel Network Ready AV Receiver
Great Audio!
- Pros: I own a set of Polk LSi speakers that are 4 ohms and quite difficult to drive. I have previously driven these speakers with both a Denon and Onkyo AVR and thought that they sounded pretty good. But once I hooked them up to this unit, I couldn't believe my ears. The Class D amp is doing a tremendous job driving these speakers! I was almost going to get an Emotiva AMP but now I don't need to - and to think that this AVR was 1/4 the cost of either the Denon or Onkyo! And although some claim the MCACC isn't as good as the Audyssey MultiEQ XT in the Onkyo I have, I was also surprised at the improvement in surround imaging (I have a tough room for imaging with a decent number of glass windows and doors). Last, it runs really cool! I had all sorts of extra fans to cool my Onkyo in a closet but this Pioneer barely breaks a sweat.
- Cons: The remote isn't good but I find I use the iOS app most of the time anyway (but it doesn't always connect through my home network). No onscreen display is a shame - not excuse for this missing. I have this in an AV closet so if it wasn't for the iOS app, I wouldn't be able to use this effectively at all. Actually, the video functions in general are pretty weak - I turned all the video enhancement features off.
- Other Thoughts: It is on sale as I am writing this since the new models are likely due out soon. If you don't need the OSD but have tough to drive speakers, this AVR is for you!
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Reviewed By:gatorinfla,5/19/2013 9:08:01 PM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is Somewhat High and has owned this product 1 month to 1 year.
This user purchased this item from Newegg
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Categories >
Receivers >
PYLE AUDIO >
PYLE PCAU44 Stereo Mini 2x120 Watt Stereo Power Amplifier w/ USB & CD Input
Just right for our purposes
- Pros: This is perfect for when you only need to amplify a single sound device, and don't want to spend several hundred dollars on a receiver that can switch between multiple inputs you don't have. It's powerful enough for our light commercial application. And with only three knobs, four buttons, no display, and a power switch, it's dead simple to operate.
- Cons: The LEDs for the left and right channel levels are super bright. If you're using this in a dark environment, they can be a bit blinding and add unwanted ambient light.
Without a display and only Previous, Next, and Play/Pause buttons, playing specific tracks from USB memory is going to be tedious.
- Other Thoughts: I bought this amp to drive the music system in our 2,700 sq. ft. Laser Tag arena. It's a rectangular room with a concrete floor and chest-high wooden partitions, so the acoustics are less than ideal for evaluating the PCAU44's fidelity, plus the audio source is a $60 pocked-sized Sansa MP3 player. Still, I've connected 4 residential-grade speakers to it in the four corners of the arena, and it easily fills the room with the right volume (loudness) of sound with no noticeable static, hiss, or distortion.
On a side note, Newegg's "Details" section list the color as "Walnut." As cool as a retro wood grain veneer would look, it's just black, like the picture.
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Reviewed By:Berq,5/19/2013 7:08:29 AM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is Somewhat High and has owned this product 1 week to 1 month.
This user purchased this item from Newegg
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Categories >
Receivers >
Yamaha >
YAMAHA AVENTAGE RX-A820 7.2-Channel Receiver
All around excellence
- Pros: I bought this receiver on sale from Newegg, the deal was too good to pass up. I have been researching receivers for 3 years now and went from Onkyo (too many problems) to Denon (very good but 2013 quality went down), then finally to Yamaha's. the only thing that the Yamaha's were behind the Denon's in was YPAO instead of Audyssey MultEQ XT. Unfortunately because Denons weren't getting good reviews on their 2013 models it was the current Yamaha A720 or A820 vs Denon 2112 or 2312. The Yamaha's features were more advanced due to being newer, especially AirPlay. So Yamaha it was.
The A820 has it all. This is for two purposes, surround sound for movies and for music. It excels at both. YPAO set up with 8 locations is nice, but probably not a big enough deal over the single position of the A720. I ended up only using 5 positions and really had to hunt for the 5th location. It did a very good job setting my Polk RM 705's; which I actually have set up as recessed ceiling speakers. (I've Jerry-rigged them in the attic space with speaker cloth and plastic trim hiding them from view). I have tweaked the settings a little for the center and rear speakers after the auto setup. I also make use of the Dialogue Lift and Dialogue Level features. Only downer is I have to up the volume for movies (-24) to get the same loudness as music (-40). This could be because I have to use a digital optical cable instead of ARC (TV limitations).
Music is awesome. I think this receiver is better for music than for movies. The selections for sound presets are many, although I only use a couple of the options. The rest sound muted. The music source options are endless. Pandora, Internet radio, other music streaming abilities, AirPlay, direct streaming from iPad, iPhone, or android device. All have pretty much worked flawlessly and are very easy to figure out how to make work.
AirPlay is soo nice and is another example of simple Apple technology at its best. Streaming music directly from an iPhone/ ipad or android phone works almost as seamlessly as AirPlay. Except, videos are included in the music playback so you have to be on top of that to skip to the next song. Playlists are lost and everything is in alphabetical order.
The most pleasant surprise I've discovered is the free app Yamaha offers. I rarely use the remote. Aside from the initial setup and the occasional tweaking of setting accessible only via the remote, I use the app 98% of the time. I remember several years ago when high end systems offered a portable large screen remote. Well now with the iPad Mini, we can get that ability for a mid-level receiver. Plus the iPad does 1000x's as much as those old music system only remotes. Because of the app, my entire system is hidden from view. The satellites are in the ceiling. The center is only visible when watching TV since they are all in an armoire. The sub and receiver are stacked in the corner behind some bookshelves. Although all this equipment maybe nice to - Cons: No video airplay.
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Reviewed By:Tech Boo,5/18/2013 5:45:51 PM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is average and has owned this product 1 week to 1 month.
This user purchased this item from Newegg
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Categories >
Receivers >
PYLE AUDIO >
PYLE PTA2 Mini 2 x 40W Stereo Power Amplifier
doa on arival
- Pros: none
- Cons: should of read the warranty return info
- Other Thoughts: sits in its box in my garage,sent it back to new egg they returned it to me said contact manufacture,well after almost a year it sits in my garage in its box
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Reviewed By:fan121,5/17/2013 4:39:48 PM
This reviewer reports that his/her technical understanding of this type of product is Somewhat High and has owned this product 1 month to 1 year.
This user purchased this item from Newegg
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